1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to imaging, and more particularly to imaging such as used in image based quantification of allergen skin reaction.
2. Description of Related Art
Manual measurement of skin wheal size is the dominant method to determine allergen reaction in skin-prick tests, although other manual or semi-automated measurement processes are known. For example, one technique is to transfer a drawn outline to paper for scanning and measurement. These manual methods are cumbersome, error prone, and introduce an undesirable degree of variability between practitioners.
While some image-based techniques have been suggested as improvements over manual measurement processes, these image-based techniques are usually based on comparison with predefined or ad hoc pixel intensity thresholds. Thus these image-based techniques are subject to error when imaging conditions deviate from the conditions used to set the thresholds. Such conditions include lighting, subject-to-subject differences, or when the area imaged has similar pixel values to those in its surroundings.
Such conventional methods and systems have generally been considered satisfactory for their intended purpose. However, there is still a need in the art for improved imaging techniques. The present disclosure provides a solution for this need.